


All The Stars Lost in Darkness

by StardustAndAsh



Category: Final Fantasy XV, Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Fall of Insomnia, Friendship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV (2016), Noctis is a princess of heart fight me, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Saving the world one fridged character at a time, Sora joins the chocobros, canon has been carved for juicy bits, loose interpretation of video game mechanics, post kh3, spoilers for both KH3 and FFXV
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-11
Updated: 2019-11-03
Packaged: 2020-06-26 12:49:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 16,274
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19768552
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StardustAndAsh/pseuds/StardustAndAsh
Summary: A deep dive into darkness is not always the end. After rescuing Kairi, Sora find himself on Eos, a world slowly sinking to the deepest part of the Realm of Darkness. Will he be able to help Noctis and his friends fulfil the prophecy and restore the world to the Realm of light? Or will this adventure prove too much for Sora's already weakened heart?





	1. De Luce In Caelo

**Author's Note:**

> There's definitely not enough KH/FFXV crossover fics. Also raise your hand if you feel like you were robbed of Sora & the chocobros interacting in KH3! I always love the FF cameos in the other KH titles. It felt a little empty without them tbh. 
> 
> so, because i have a computer, i can say that its not Verum Rex or whatever Sora finds himself in post kh3, its FFXV time y'all

His first thought was how jarring it was to be. The surprise of existing was forefront on Sora’s mind. Then it was the noise. A car honked in the distance, a group of people walked by and laughed, a woman’s heels clicking on the pavement. To Sora it all seemed muffled and distant, yet far too loud at the same time. There were so many tall buildings and bright screens and signs, but it wasn’t as colourful as San Fransokyo. His breath caught in his throat. The only other world he had been to with buildings like this was the World That Never Was. Sora looked from side to side, taking in all the people on the street. When he had fought his way through the World That Never Was there had been no people, only endless Heartless and Nobodies. That thought did a little to calm his nerves, but he still had to look up, had to make sure that the strange white castle wasn’t floating overhead.

No strange white castle met Sora’s eyes. Instead the stars were blurred by a strange blue barrier, like a layer of glass between himself and the sky. Then his eye landed on the figure at the top of the building. Someone was up there, someone in a black coat.

Sora did not pause to think, reaching for his keyblade and running for the building. He could scale that easy. Whichever Organization member thought they could play in this world would be proven wrong. Except his keyblade didn’t come. He could feel it distantly, but it did not form in his hand. He was so surprised he felt his feet slip, thankfully still on the ground, but enough to make him trip and slide into a nearby alley and straight into the square metal bins that lined it.

Ears ringing, Sora pushed himself to his hands and knees slowly. Every breath seemed to catch in his throat and tears burned at his eyes. He looked up to try and spot the figure in the coat, but they had moved on. The tears began rolling down his cheeks then. Sora didn’t have a clue where he was, his keyblade wasn’t responding, and the Organization was here. The last thing he was aware of before coming here was the sunset on Destiny Islands and Kairi’s hand in his own as he brought her home. Then the darkness had swallowed him.

Was this then what lay in that deep darkness? A nearly colourless city where the people were kept behind glass so they couldn’t reach the stars.

“Hey kid, you alright?” a voice called from the mouth of the alley.

Sora almost didn’t look up, but it would be rude to not acknowledge them. He sniffed loudly, wiping at his eyes and rocking back to sit on his heels.

“Hello?”

“You alright?” the figure asked again.

“Yeah,” said Sora unconvincingly. He wiped away the last of his tears to see a figure in a long dark coat approaching. He stiffened and reached for his keyblade once more and once more it failed to appear in his hand.

It was probably for the best, because as the man got closer Sora could see the coat he was wearing was very different from the Organization’s. It was more intricate, with detailing in silver and lots of buttons. The man himself looked far kinder than any of the Organization members, and he hadn’t immediately tried to taunt him or hurt him. Instead he was watching Sora with soft green eyes.

“I saw you wipe out kid, that looked like it hurt. Do you need me to call someone to pick you up?” The man crouched down to be closer to Sora’s eye level and gave him a not so subtle once-over to check for injuries. “My name’s Nyx, what’s yours?”

“I’m Sora. I uh, I think I’m lost.”

Nyx stood and offered a hand. Sora accepted, allowing himself to be pulled upright.

“Which district are you from? We’re near the Citadel now, but I’m sure we can figure out how to get you home. I can call someone for you, kid. Get your parents to pick you up or something.”

“Citadel?”

“Yeah, where the king lives?” Nyx peered closer at Sora’s eyes. “How hard did you hit your head?”

“I’m uh, from another city. On an island? I’m not super familiar with this city yet,” Sora nearly winced at how bad his lie sounded. It was always so much easier to keep the world order when Donald and Goofy were breathing down his neck.

Nyx was staring at him like Sora had said something absolutely ridiculous. Maybe the city was the whole world then. Sora scratched the back of his neck and tried to laugh it off. This did nothing to help the staring. In fact, Nyx’s eyes had taken on a suspicious glint and one hand was moving towards his waist. Sora followed the movement with his eyes and saw the hilt of a weapon and began to back away.

“You know, I should probably get going. It was nice meeting you, Nyx!” Sora called as he sprinted towards the opposite end of the alley.

“Wait!” Nyx’s voice echoed behind him, but Sora was good at nothing so much as getting from place to place quickly.

Sora burst out of the alley and leapt over a car as it drove by. The person inside honked but Sora kept going. People were staring so he ducked back into another alley, trying his best to put some distance between himself and Nyx. Once he lost him there would be plenty of time to figure out where he was.

It took a few too many blocks but eventually the sound of Nyx’s footsteps behind him faded away. Sora leaned on his knees and took a deep breath. That was far too much running. With a sigh he straightened back up. Time to find out where he was. Looking around, he saw where the most light was coming from and chose to follow it.

It led him to a tall fortress, probably the Citadel Nyx had mentioned, that seemed to be shooting blue energy into the sky, creating the blue tinged barrier Sora had noticed earlier. It was a beautiful sight. The light reflected off the many windows in the building, making it glow against the dark night sky. Sora would have gone closer, but he noticed several people in those same black coats as Nyx standing at the gates. Instead he scaled a nearby building and watched the light pouring into the sky from there.

Sora sat with his feet dangling over the edge, kicking lazily against the side of the building. After a short time of just sitting and watching Sora held out a hand and tried to summon his keyblade once more. This time there was a glitter of magic around his hand. It was as if he was reaching into a pit where the keyblade lay just out of reach. Frustrated, Sora gave out a loud groan, flopping back onto the hard roof.

“Why won’t you answer me?” Sora asked his question to the empty air.

Eventually the moon rose high in the sky and Sora could barely keep his eyes open. Blinking sleepily he pulled himself away from the edge and found a spot that would do and curled up and went to sleep. Falling asleep had never been an issue for Sora.

He was rudely awakened the next day by bright sunlight filtering down through the barrier. Sora yawned and stretched, feeling his joints pop in protest to the uncomfortable sleep. For a second he could picture himself waking up in the treehouse on Destiny Islands, Kairi ready to make fun of him for falling asleep somewhere dumb and Riku rolling his eyes with that soft smile.

But when he opened his eyes it was to the same tall Citadel as the night before, the blue barrier above rippling in the sunlight. It was no less impressive in the daylight, and there was movement at the gates. Sora scrambled over to the edge to watch.

There were people on the steps up to the grand doors of the Citadel. Two were speaking to each other: one an older man, the other a boy a few years older than Sora who had black hair. He almost looked like Riku. His hair was styled the same way, and from what Sora could see, they had similar taste in fashion. Eventually the boy turned and headed down the steps and into a car that drove away. The old man watched the car go until it disappeared around a bend and out of sight before climbing back up the stairs and entering the Citadel.

With that there was nothing else to do but find a way out of this city. Sora slipped down off the building and began walking. As he went he noticed people starting to gather together along one of the roads. At first it was fine, and Sora got to hear snippets of conversation. People were talking about ‘Niflhiem’ and someone called ‘the Oracle’ and about some kind of treaty. Sora didn’t really understand, and no one answered his questions. Granted, he wasn’t sure if anyone could hear him asking, as the crowd was loud.

Eventually Sora decided it was better to go back to finding a way out of the city. The streets were winding and confusing, and Sora never did have the best sense of direction. It was not long before Sora was well and truly lost. He had tried picking out landmarks, but it turned out this city had multiple of the same stores. Stellabucks, Wacdonalds, Dollar Iron Giant, there seemed to be one on every corner! He had been walking for hours and had no idea if he was any closer to leaving the city than when he began.

Caught up in his frustration, Sora almost didn’t notice the rumble of engines overhead. Looking up he saw dozens of low flying blocky ships. And then he saw their weapons.

Before he could even think of summoning his keyblade there was a loud shattering sound and the blue barrier overhead rippled and collapsed, pieces of it falling away before fizzling into nothing. The ships sailed into the city low enough for the ground to shake. In the distance Sora heard people screaming.

“Come on,” said Sora, trying to summon his keyblade. “Now would be a good time!”

It didn’t matter that all that appeared was a simple shimmer of magic, Sora couldn’t just stay there and do nothing. He took off running. It didn’t take long before cars began to pass him. They seemed not to care about the lines on the pavement nor about how fast they were going. A few honked at Sora but he kept going. Not long after people began to pass him. There was a man carrying a toddler who was crying and clutching a teddy bear that gave him a concerned look as he passed, a pair of teenage girls who were screaming into things that looked sort of like the gummiphone, and countless others. Some were crying, and a few were bleeding. Sora passed them all, letting the cries for him to stop and turn back fall on deaf ears.

By the time Sora managed to wade through the crowd night was starting to creep over the horizon. He only had a few moments to take in that the Citadel was broken and full of smoke before a large creature screeched into the night and demanded his attention.

The monster was tall. Just as tall as the skyscrapers around it, if not bigger. Where its heart should be was a glowing red orb and its shoulders were broad and looked almost like mouths ready to devour anything its path. Sora watched in horror as it launched rockets into the city. Screams and explosions rocked the night as buildings crumbled into rubble. Sora scanned the creature for a familiar emblem. Was it a Heartless, a Nobody? Maybe one of those Unversed creatures? There was nothing he could see.

But Sora had taken down bigger.

With a scream of effort Sora reached with all his heart for his keyblade. Once again it felt just beyond the tips of his fingers, but this time Sora leaned out into that yawning darkness that held it until his fingers scrabbled at the hilt and pulled it into his hand.

“He he, alright!”

With that Sora took off, using every skill in his repertoire to get closer to the monster. Lucky for him, it was as slow as it was big. Sora caught up fast, launching himself from building to building until he was close enough to leap onto the monster’s shoulder.

Sora sprinted down the creature’s back and launched his attack at the thing’s head. His keyblade whirled in his hand as he danced around, landing hits as he went. Surprisingly, nothing came to try and swat Sora away. Yet neither did it seem like his attacks were doing much. Well, as Donald would say, time for some magic.

“Thunder!” Sora cried, swinging his keyblade up to call the element to his aid in a powerful thundaga spell. The lightning arced around him in bright bursts as it struck the monster repeatedly. It stumbled, teetering for a moment. Grinning at having found the advantage Sora called upon the element again.

The monster swayed, shaking Sora loose. It took a couple more clumsy steps before its foot went through a road and tipped it over far enough for it to fall. The thing gave out a loud groaning scream as it went down. For a moment it seemed to hang in the air as if suspended by invisible wires over the burning city before it crashed down with such an impact it sent Sora flying off his feet.

By the time Sora found his footing again the creature had completely disappeared in flames. At least it wouldn’t be getting up again. For now, he needed to look for people. There could be hundreds in need of help. So he set off into the flames.

After climbing around the fifth or sixth too large fire Sora was desperately missing Goofy and his shield. He wished could just surf over the flames as they had done in Olympus. Thinking back on it, Olympus had been nothing compared to the destruction here. And Olympus had Hercules, it didn’t seem like this world had a hero of its own like that.

It was unsettlingly quiet. The further Sora travelled the more aware of the quiet he became. There was the crackle of fire and the grinding and groaning of unstable structures, but there was no sign of anyone. No screams for help or sounds of crying. Sora wasn’t sure if he should be thankful or incredibly worried.

So when Sora did hear the sound of someone else out in this disaster he ran for it as fast as he could. It was the sound of fighting, of metal on metal and the grunts and screams that came with battle. Keyblade still in hand Sora burst onto the scene.

A man in a black coat was fighting a taller person in a scary suit of armor. Both were glowing, the black coated man a faint blue, like the barrier in the sky had been. The armor had a sickly red light pouring out of it as it rained down a flurry of blows. With a jolt Sora realized he recognized the man in the black coat. It was Nyx, the one he had met the day before. At almost the same time Nyx spotted Sora.

“You again? Get outta here kid!” he yelled, dropping away from the fight to put himself between the armor and Sora.

“I don’t know what’s going on, but it looks like you could use some help,” said Sora, stepping up beside Nyx with his keyblade drawn. “Who is that guy?”

“His name’s Glauca, one of the Nif generals. He betrayed us to them and killed the king,” growled Nyx. “You should get going. It’s not safe.”

“No way!” said Sora as he charged ahead at Glauca.

Glauca readied his sword, shifting his grip as Sora came close. The sword was nearly as long as Sora was tall, but that didn’t give him pause. Just before he reached Glauca he ducked to the left, and just in time as that giant sword cleaved through the air in the space Sora had been a heartbeat before. He slammed the keyblade into Glauca’s unprotected side and ended up sending him straight into Nyx’s attack.

The battle continued like this for what felt like hours. Sweat dripped uncomfortably down Sora’s forehead and plastered his bangs to his face but he couldn’t let down his guard for the second it would take to wipe it away. Glauca was fast for someone so big and in such heavy armor. Sora kept dancing around that big sword, looking for openings to land a big hit and then retreating away from the retaliation while Nyx jumped in for the attack.

But it had been going on for far too long. All three of them were beginning to tire. That’s when Sora saw the opening. He dashed in close, sliding under Glauca’s sword before spinning and swinging his keyblade straight into the back of Glauca’s knees. It worked, Glauca fell to his knees with a clanking thump.

“Nyx, now!”

Nyx was already halfway into his swing when Sora shouted. He jammed his strange blade into the small gap beneath Glauca’s helmet and viciously yanked it back out. There was a spray of blackish blood and an odd gurgling noise before Glauca slumped to the side and collapsed limply onto the ruined pavement.

Sora waited for the body to dissolve into darkness, as he had seen those made Heartless do so many times before but the moment never came. Instead he sat panting, staring at the body. Thinking back on his adventures, this was the first time death had come with the aftermath of a body. The undeniable truth that someone was gone, and that Sora had helped it happen. He stared, transfixed, at the dark blood that had pooled out from underneath Glauca. He stared for too long. The sun was beginning to rise, the fires beginning to die, and Sora still stared.

“Hey kid, you alright?” asked Nyx.

Sora looked over at Nyx with tired eyes, before bolting upright. Nyx was sitting facing the sun, and he was, for the lack of a better term, disintegrating.

“Woah! Nyx, your body, what’s wrong?” Sora scrambled over.

“Deal’s done. I did my part,” said Nyx. “I’m the hero.”

“But what’s happening?”

“My time’s up. This is all the Lucii gave me. I asked for their power to defeat Glauca, and this was the price.”

“Well that’s stupid.”

Nyx barked out a laugh. “Yeah, but it was worth it.”

“No it isn’t.” Sora shook his head. “Heroes always have to be around to save the day. They can’t just go leaving once its done.”

As soon as the words left his lips Sora heard the hypocrisy in them. Good thing Nyx wouldn’t know about that.

“I’d agree with you Sora, but what’s done is done.” Nyx gave Sora a gentle smile.

“No…” said Sora softly. The familiar burn of tears began in his eyes. He’d just got to this world and already it was on fire, he’d helped kill somebody, and the very first person he met was going to die.

“It’s alright kid,” said Nyx.

It really wasn’t. None of this was alright. In fact it was very far from it. At least there was one more thing Sora could try. He had some magical energy back after the two thundagas. Sora’s fingers wrapped tightly around his keyblade as he swung it up into the air and called upon all the magic he could muster.

“Heal!”

Vines made of green light danced around Nyx as the spell wove its healing magic. Slowly, the grey tinge left Nyx’s skin and the spots where he had been turning to dust healed into shiny new skin. Nyx stared down at himself with wonder before turning to Sora.

“What did you do?”

“Healed you?” said Sora uncertainly.

“How?”

“With my magic.”

Nyx shook his head. “You know, when I first found you in that alley I thought you might have been a Nif spy, but you really aren’t from around here, are you. The only magic in Eos comes from the king and the crystal, and it sure doesn’t look like that.”

“Oh,” said Sora. So much for world order.

“I won’t ask right now, I’m far too tired. But we do have to get out of Insomnia. I’ll bet a hundred gil MTs are going to be swarming the streets by noon.”

Sora had no idea what an MT was, or gil for that matter, but nodded anyways. Nyx got to his feet and pulled Sora upright. Without a word he began leading the way through the ruins of the city. The lonely buildings towered over them, most of them gutted and charred. Nyx at least seemed to know where he was going, and soon they came to a wall. Or, more specifically, a gate in the wall. Beyond it lay a bridge, partially destroyed but not completely impassable for two determined people. And Sora and Nyx were determined. The worst part was the cool rain that had begun halfway through their adventure across the bridge. Everything became slippery, and Sora’s hands began to go numb with cold.

By the time they reached the far end of the bridge Sora was thoroughly damp and exhausted. Nyx showed no sign of slowing, even as they came across a barricade of several soldiers in metal armor and a big robot that looked a little like the Gigas. Instead of engaging, Nyx led the way around the barricade. Their detour was long, but if it meant no more fighting then Sora was ok with that.

Eventually they found the road again and began walking down the shoulder. There were no cars to pass them now, just some strange looking animals in the distance that were trying their best to huddle under scrubby trees as shelter from the rain.

“There’s an outpost not far from here,” Nyx said, startling Sora.

“What’s an outpost?”

“It’s a safe place outside the wall. They all have lights so the demons can’t get in. You and I will part ways there. You look dead on your feet Sora, and there’s a person I should try and catch up to.”

“Okay,” said Sora, heart sinking at the prospect of being alone in this strange world once again. “Who do you need to catch up to?”

“Lady Lunafreya. Even though she can handle herself, there should be someone watching her back as she travels.”

“I hope you find her,” said Sora. “She sounds nice.”

“Nice is one way to put it,” said Nyx with a grin.

Sora simply smiled back at him. 

The rest of the walk was just as cold and wet. Sora’s socks were sloshing around grossly in his shoes with every step. In the distance a sign loomed above a dark smudge on the horizon. As they drew closer Sora could see the sign was proclaiming ‘Hammerhead Garage’ and the dark smudge was actually a collection of small buildings. There were no people wandering out in the rain, but there was warm light coming from a few of the buildings. Sora felt his heart lift at the sight and his feet picked up the pace.

The buildings were surrounded by a tall chain link fence and a few tall pillars with large lights on them. Odd, but nothing about this world had been what Sora would call normal. The two entered the outpost they made for the little shelter of the gas station. There, dripping and exhausted, Nyx and Sora said their goodbyes.

“I’m going to try and make it to Longwythe tonight, and Duscae tomorrow. Lunafreya will be on her way to Titan,” said Nyx. “I hope we meet again, Sora. I’d like to hear all about this island you’re from and their magic.”

Sora nodded. “Yeah. I hope you find your friend.”

“Thanks.”

“And Nyx?”

“Yeah?”

“May your heart be your guiding key!”

Nyx just gave Sora a smile and clapped him on the shoulder before turning and walking back out into the rain.
    
    
      
    


	2. occurrit sidera caelo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In the wake of Insomnia's destruction, Noctis and the gang meet a kid named Sora at Hammerhead.

When Noctis and the crew pulled into Hammerhead they all carried the silence of melancholy. Even the regalia’s engine seemed to be quieter than usual beneath the sound of the rain pouring down on them. There had been some conversation on what to do next but it had drifted away after the first few minutes with each of them choosing to get lost in their own thoughts. There was a lot to think about after all. With any luck, Cor would have some answers, but for now their goal was to lie as low as possible and hope Niflheim believed the reports that Noctis was dead.

As they pulled into Hammerhead they saw the sombre atmosphere had spread here as well. Usually bustling with all manner of people from hunters to regular folk passing through, the outpost was a wasteland devoid of life. Well, that wasn’t entirely true. As the regalia pulled up to the gas island and they piled out of the car Cindy came out of the shop to greet them. And she wasn’t alone.

Following in Cindy’s wake was a short boy who looked like he used enough hair gel to rival Prompto. He looked soaked to the bone yet his hair was still spiked upright. The boy was munching down on a granola bar and watching Noctis and the others climb out of the car with great interest.

“Glad y’all made it,” Cindy said gently. “Not many people have been comin’ up the road.”

“Yeah. I wouldn’t think so,” said Gladio.

Noctis came around the side of the regalia to join in the conversation.

“Where’s Cor? And who’s the kid?” Noctis glanced at the boy, who was staring right back with big blue eyes.

“Cor left a while ago, said he had somethin’ to do. Left a message with Pawpaw for ya though,” she jerked a thumb over at the garage. “As for him, well, he came walkin’ up the road with one of them Kingsglaives and passed out in the shop.”

All four of them looked at each other. A Kingsglave brought him here?

“I’m Sora,” said the boy, holding out his hand with far too much energy and cheer. “Nice to meet you, uhh?”

“Prompto!” said Prompto, shaking the kid’s hand. “And this is Ignis, Gladio aaand No-“

Prompto’s introductions were quickly cut off by one of Gladio’s large hands slapping itself over his mouth. In retaliation Prompto licked Gladio’s palm, making him recoil and try to wipe the spit on his pants.

“That’s gross,” Gladio growled.

Sora just watched with eyebrows raised in confusion. “And who?”

Noctis stepped forward, glaring out of the corner of his eye at Ignis and Gladio and offered his hand to Sora. “I’m Noct.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Noct, Prompto, Ignis, Gladio,” said Sora. There was something a little odd with how the kid listed their names off, but hey, maybe it was the newest ‘thing’ among teens.”

“Cindy, you mentioned a Kingsglaive. Did you happen to catch their name and where they were heading?” asked Ignis.

“I didn’t see much of him. He just dropped the kid and kept on goin’,” Cindy said with a shrug. “Just went straight back out into the rain heading west.”

“Thank you,” said Ignis. Noctis could see the gears turning in his head. Ignis would voice his thoughts when he was ready with whatever theory he was concocting.

“Uh,” Sora piped up, “If you’re talking about the guy I walked here with, his name is Nyx. He said he was going to find his friend.”

Well, that was a shock. One of the best ‘glaives made it out of Insomnia alive. All four of them felt their spirits rise as yet another hero walked out of the death toll. With Nyx and Cor the Immortal on their side it suddenly felt like they could breathe a little easier. They weren’t alone in this.

“This ‘friend’ of his, he say who it was?” Gladio asked quickly, taking a step towards Sora. To the kid’s credit he didn’t seem at all phased by Gladio’s height or muscularity. Maybe it just came with the territory of being at least a head shorter than everyone else.

“Hmm, I think it was a Lady Lunafreya?”

Noctis stepped up and grabbed Sora by the shoulders. “He said Lunafreya? You’re sure?”

Sora looked wildly from Noctis to the others, eyebrows raised in confusion. His shoulders tensed under Noctis’ firm grip and he was trapped in Noct’s intense gaze.

“Whoa, Noct! Calm down.” Gladio reached out, gently putting a hand on Noctis’ shoulder and pulled him back.

“Right, sorry,” said Noctis. “He really said he was going to find Luna?”

“Yeah! Is she your friend too?” asked Sora. He still seemed confused, but the enthusiasm was back.

Noctis just nodded. He thought if he spoke just then, his voice might shake and he might cry for yet another time today.

“It is good to hear the Oracle is alive,” said Ignis as he adjusted his glasses.

“Yeah! Maybe more people made it out of the Crown City than the report said,” said Prompto with a hopeful smile.

“We can certainly hope so. Now, we should get that message from the Marshal and plan our next move,” said Ignis.

The four of them dashed across the wet pavement towards Cid’s garage, leaving Sora and Cindy behind. The garage lights were off when they entered, but they could see towards the back a single desk lamp lighting up the area. In its soft glow they could see Cid sitting in an uncomfortable looking plastic chair. He was looking at a photo that sat on his small desk, and didn’t break his gaze to look at them when they approached.

“Get comfortable boys,” said Cid in a voice made rough by sorrow.

So they did. Finding various spots to lean that weren’t completely covered in motor oil, the four of them settled in to listen to whatever Cid had to tell them.

What Cid told them first was tinged by regret. The sad understanding of Regis doing everything he possibly could have and still failing to protect Lucis. As Cid went on all Noctis could do was clench his fists and fight down the anger that bubbled to the surface. His father had known what was going to happen, and Noctis had been the fool, believing him when he had been sent off with a smile. He tuned back in when Cid mentioned that Cor was waiting in some tombs to the north.

“Thanks,” Noctis mumbled at Cid as he turned to exit the garage.

“You’re welcome son,” said Cid as he went back to staring at that old photo.

Outside the sky was beginning to lighten. Faint shadows were reaching across the ground and rippling over the small puddles the rain had left behind. A few people were coming back out and setting up their small stands across the paved lot. There was a woman pulling a tarp off a truck bed full of produce and two hunters opening up the back of a van to display weapons for sale. Noctis suspected those hunters might be doing good business in the next few days. Next to him, Ignis was eyeing the produce with a keen interest. Noctis made a note to distract him in case he looked like he was going to buy vegetables.

“So like, what do you think the Marshal is doing in a tomb? Do you think he’s turning it into a bomb shelter? Is Niflheim going to bomb us?” Prompto began chattering idly in the quiet.

“They wouldn’t bomb Lucis. There are too many valuable resources,” said Ignis, ever the realist.

“Still, what do you think he’s doing up there?”

“Your guess is as good as mine,” said Noctis with a shrug. “We should get going.”

Noctis made to go to the regalia, but something was off. Or rather, something was on. Someone was sitting on the hood of the regalia, and from the look of it, getting an earful from Cindy about ‘treatin’ a car right’. That someone had spiky brown hair and was rather short: Sora. As Noctis stomped up to the car, a frown on his face and the urge to punch the kid, he could see the stupid grin on Sora’s face.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” said Noctis, low and dangerous.

“Oh hey Noctis, everyone!” Sora turned his big blue eyes on the approaching four. “Thought I’d help you out with charging up your car.”

Ok, what? That’s not what Noctis had expected.

“Charging up… the car?”

“Yeah!”

“Get off o’ her! Your goin’ to scuff the paint,” said Cindy, gesturing with a wrench held in one gloved hand. “This ain’t how to treat a lady.”

Sora just stuck his tongue out at her. Cindy stuck her tongue out right back.

Noctis couldn’t help it. He laughed. It started as a giggle before exploding into a full on can’t-catch-your-breath kind of laugh. He managed to get a handle on it after a minute or two, and was surprised to see his friends looking at him with surprise and relief. From his seat on the hood of the regalia Sora looked triumphant.

“There, she should be ready to run now,” said Sora, gently patting the car before hopping off it.

“Dude, what do you mean ‘she’s ready to run now’?” asked Prompto, still confused.

“Well, I’ve spent a lot of time travelling with some friends, but when I met them I was scared and lost and upset,” began Sora. “So they told me their ship runs on happy faces and we made funny faces at each other until I was laughing and felt better. You guys seem a little down, so I thought it might help.”

“It did,” said Noctis. “Thanks, but we should be on our way.”

Sora nodded and stepped away from the regalia to give them room to get in. He wandered off to seemingly inspect the weapons for sale in the back of the hunter’s van. Noctis went to open the regalia’s door but was stopped by Ignis clearing his throat just as his fingers wrapped around the handle.

“Noct, if I may, we should stay here for the night. It’ll be dark soon, and I think we all deserve a proper bed after everything today. We have enough gil for the caravan and a meal.”

Noctis looked at Ignis and could see the lines exhaustion and sorrow had left on his friend. Though Prompto still moved with as much energy as ever his eyes were red-rimmed and puffy. Even Gladio had the telltale stiff bearing that told how upset he was. Noctis sighed and let the door go.

“Yeah, you’re right.”

The others collectively breathed a sigh of relief as the tension drained from their shoulders. Ignis split off to secure the caravan for the night as Gladio, Prompto, and Noctis wandered into Takka’s and slid into one of the booths. The old cracked vinyl of the seats dug into Noctis’ thighs uncomfortably and when he laid his elbows on the table they stuck to the old plastic. For a moment his heart yearned for the comfort of his small apartment, the couch with the perfect indent for napping, the table with just enough seats for the four of them, and the sense of normalcy of his small corner of Insomnia. He supposed the apartment was nothing more than a pile of rubble now. For a moment he thought of his neighbour’s cat. It was a small fuzzy grey thing that tended to charge out of the door the second it was open. Noctis hoped the cat was okay, then cringed inwardly. Why should he be thinking about one cat when all those people were just gone.

Noctis was dragged out of his thoughts by Gladio sliding a tray with four steaming bowls of chili onto the table. The smell did nothing to help Noctis’ appetite, but holding the warm bowl in his hands was nice. Across the booth Prompto was absently stirring at his bowl and staring out at the sunset with a faraway look in his eyes. It took a nudge and stern look from Gladio to get them both to start eating. The first few bites were tasteless and difficult, but as the food hit his stomach Noctis found himself ravenous. In record time both he and Prompto had finished their bowls and sat back with a sigh. Sometime during the feeding frenzy Ignis had joined them and was now jotting down notes in his little recipe notebook. When all four of them had finished their meals they leaned back into the vinyl seats and looked at each other with weary eyes. Now that night had fallen outside the outpost the floodlights were on, making everyone look pale and worn.

“What do you think it’s like inside the Crown City?” asked Prompto quietly.

Noctis shrugged. He didn’t really want to think about it. In fact, all he wanted to do was go to sleep and maybe in the morning he’d find out this was all just a nightmare.

“I suspect only someone who was there can tell us. Perhaps we should ask Sora,” said Ignis.

“Yeah. I’m curious how the kid knows Nyx. Sure doesn’t look like anyone I’ve seen before,” said Gladio as he crossed his arms.

“We’ll see for ourselves when we take the city back,” Noctis said.

“Yeah, I guess we will,” agreed Prompto.

“I’d like to hear what Sora can tell us. We need to know if the papers and the radio report were wrong in other ways than just claiming you and Lady Lunafreya are dead,” said Gladio. “If you’d rather bury your head in the sand you can.”

Noctis frowned at him. The anger that had dissipated with Sora’s earlier antics came bubbling back up to the surface.

“Fine, we find him and ask him. Happy?”

Gladio just grunted, but there was a hint of cat that got the canary about him in the way he was fighting not to smirk. He slid out of the booth’s seat and made an ‘after you’ gesture at Noctis. Beside him, Ignis sighed and slid out as well, allowing Noctis to crawl out and walk out of the restaurant.

There were still a few small puddles that shone in the light from the flood lamps. Inside the store Noctis could see the attendant closing up for the day. The hunter’s van was shut and locked, the produce truck gone back to whatever farm it came from. But there was no sign of Sora.

That is, until they heard the unmistakable sound of metal on metal. From outside the outpost.

Noctis summoned his engine blade to his hand and felt the familiar faint tug of his friends pulling their own weapons from the armiger. They ran forward to the edge of the outpost. There, out in the darkness in the scrubland across the road they could see the tall, imposing shape of an Iron Giant. The daemon was swinging its sword in powerful strokes, and straining his eyes against the flood lamps Noctis could see why. Sora was dodging around the thing’s feet, ducking and rolling as the Iron Giant swung down before leaping to his feet and hitting it with what looked like an oddly shaped sword.

“Guys, we’re going to do something, right?” asked Prompto, already moving forward into the darkness.

“Yeah, you and Ignis try and distract it while Gladio and I go after him.”

This was definitely not how Noctis thought this day was going to end. No doubt Sora had taken one look at all the hunter’s weapons and fancied himself a demon slayer or something. But Astrals damn him he wasn’t just going to stand by and watch the idiot get chopped to pieces by a daemon.

So Noctis raised his blade, threw it, and warped. He reappeared in the Iron Giant’s blind spot and slashed out at its ankle. When the engine blade connected Noctis understood why it was called an Iron Giant. The force of the impact reverberated all the way up Noctis’ arm into his shoulder. That was going to hurt tomorrow. Nevertheless, his idea worked, and Noctis had to warp again to avoid being crushed by the daemon falling. As he came out of the warp he stumbled back, nearly into Gladio. Distantly a shot rang out, pinging against its broad chest.

“Freeze!” Sora’s voice called out from somewhere overhead. Noctis looked up to see Sora almost hovering overhead and pointing his weapon at the Iron Giant. A blast of ice magic flew overhead and into the daemon from the tip of the weapon, and Noctis wasn’t sure if he was more surprised by the magic or by the fact that it looked like Sora was wielding a giant key.

“Noctis! Pay attention!” Gladio barked as he ran past.

Noctis shrugged out of his stupor and dashed back into the fray. The ice magic had succeeded in slowing down the Iron Giant until its movements were laughably slow. While he and Gladio took care of the daemon’s legs, Sora seemed to fly overhead like gravity was merely a suggestion. He bashed the Iron Giant around the head with that strange key relentlessly. With Sora in the way Prompto was no longer shooting at the Iron Giant, but Ignis was doing a good job of aiming blows to its chest with one of the spears from the armiger. For a moment the battle seemed to be going in their favour. Then Noctis looked away for a point to get away from the fight to breathe a little and regroup. He only took his eyes off the Iron Giant for a second.

“Noooct!” Prompto’s cry rang out loud and clear across the night.

Noct turned just in time to see the Iron Giant’s sword swinging down at him. He didn’t have time to dodge, he didn’t even have time to raise his blade. All he could do was stare at that sword, longer than he was tall, as it came down towards him.

“Noct!” Ignis’ voice echoed half a heartbeat after Prompto’s.

This was it. This was how the line of Lucis would end. At the side of the road by a small outpost for a kid he only met today.

Then, inexplicably, Sora was between Noctis and the Iron Giant’s sword. For a moment it looked like Sora might be able to hold back the force of the blow, but then the Iron Giant moved its wrist in just the right way as it finished the swing and it sent Sora flying. The sound of a body hitting stone made Noctis wince. Without hesitation Noctis ran in the direction Sora had been tossed. He had just enough time to wish he had his little clip on light before he came across Sora at the base of some dark rocks. Noctis’ body was on autopilot as he checked Sora’s pulse and breathing after years of training, but his mind was going a mile a minute as it second guessed everything he’d ever learned about head injuries. It was dark, but Noctis could see the slick sheen of Sora’s hair near his temple. Blood. And lots of it. Noctis reached into the armiger and pulled out one of the few potions he had. He slipped it into Sora’s limp hand had forced him to close his fist. The glow of healing magic wrapped around Sora and sunk into his skin. Yet Sora didn’t open his eyes.

Behind them, the fight with the Iron Giant was coming to an end. Gladio and Ignis had teamed up their blows to create a more effective force, and when they pulled back for another swing Prompto’s gun echoed loudly as his bullets bounced off the hard skin. One lucky shot was all it took. As Ignis and Gladio dodged out of the way of the big sword Prompto took aim, and the Iron Giant got a bullet straight through one of its eyes. The thing dropped like a stone, only for it to dissolve into a puddle of dark goo a few seconds later. All three turned to the direction Noctis had run and followed.

“Noctis!” Gladio called. “You still alive?”

“Over here,” said Noctis. “I’ve got Sora. He’s hurt.”

The three rushed over. It was hard to see in the darkness, but they spotted the same bloody wetness in Sora’s hair that Noctis had.

“I gave him a potion, but he’s still out,” said Noctis.

“Gladio, can you carry him?”

“You know it Iggy,” said Gladio, gently scooping Sora into his arms.

“Prompto, keep the daemons off us. We need to get back to the outpost.”

“Got it!” said Prompto, pulling his gun from the armiger once more. He stood tall, looking from side to side before back at Ignis. “It’s only like thirty feet from us to the outpost.”

“Doesn’t matter,” said Ignis. “Let’s go.”

The four of them took off across the dirt and vaulted over the barrier. As they went they heard the telltale groaning of another daemon clawing its way into the world and picked up the pace. Prompto’s gun went off once, twice, before they were stumbling into the safety of the flood lamps. Without a word to each other they beelined for the caravan. Gladio deposited Sora on one of the lower bunks while Ignis grabbed a washcloth and a bowl of warm water and began fussing at the blood on the boy’s forehead. Noctis watched awkwardly from the kitchenette with Prompto, the both of them simply standing there without an idea of what to do. Eventually Gladio came and dragged them outside for a game of King’s Knight while Ignis finished up.

“He’ll be fine. It was quite a knock, but the potion no doubt helped,” said Ignis as he pulled up a plastic chair and sat at the small table with the group. “I think his body just needs rest after what he’s been through. We can ask our questions when he wakes in the morning.”

“The real question here is who’s going to sleep on the floor now that the kid’s taking up one of the beds?” asked Gladio, before turning with a pointed look at Prompto.

“What? Me!” squawked Prompto. “No way big guy. I’m to bony! You sleep on the floor, you’ve got all the extra padding!”

“Oh really?” said Gladio lowly, half rising out of his seat. “You wanna say that again?”

Prompto fled, and Gladio gave a halfhearted chase.

“You know I just meant because your so big and muscular!” screeched Prompto as he ducked around the gas pumps.

Noctis watched their antics with tired eyes. Sleep was calling. He wasn’t even aware he had drifted off in his hard, uncomfortable seat until Ignis shook his shoulder gently.

“I think it’s time we retired for the night.”

“Yeah Specs, you’re right.”

Slowly Noctis dragged himself out of the chair and into the caravan. With barely a pause to kick off his boots Noctis slid into the bunk opposite Sora and fell into a deep sleep.

Noctis was standing on a grassy hill looking down on Insomnia. That was weird. There weren’t any grassy hills near Insomnia, and certainly no hills with this vantage point, but there he was, and there was the city.

The barrier was still up and glittering under the sunlight. From here he could see cars zipping about on the roads, and people strolling down boulevards. It was beautiful and home, and how Noctis immediately knew he was in a dream. A day ago the city had looked like this. Today it was gone. His phone buzzed in his pocket.

_Hello Noctis :D_

Though there was no number associated with the message, Noctis felt the comforting familiarity all at once.

“Hello?” said Noctis out loud. “Carbuncle? Is that you?”

_Of course it is, silly! Who else would it be?_

The small fluffy form of Carbuncle came wandering up the side of the hill and sat down in the grass next to Noctis. He reached out a hand and gently pet the small creature. Carbuncle was as soft as they ever were, and the motion just as soothing.

“They’re all gone. I should have done something. I should have seen what my father was up to, I could have stayed and fought.”

_I’m sorry about your father :C He was a good king. He protected you._

“I just wish he had said something.” Noctis sighed and looked up at the clear blue sky.

_You can still do something! You can get the crystal back! You even have extra help now :D_

“Extra help?” asked Noctis.

_The boy you met today! His name is Sora! He can help you lots :D He’s from another world, and he’s lost a part of himself, but I helped him find his way here! Sora will be the key to restoring the light without sacrifice :D_

Noctis stared between his phone and Carbuncle. The message made no sense. He read it three times just to make sure he had it right. Sora was some kind of alien, like the ones in the cheesy sci-fi movies he and Prompto watched, and he was supposed to help restore the light? What light?

“What do you mean the key to ‘restoring the light with no sacrifice’?” asked Noctis.

Carbuncle just shook their head. They got up and stretched out like a cat before shaking out their fur.

_It’s time to wake up Noctis! Don’t worry, as long as you have your friends, everything will be okay :D_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Noct, meet Sora. Sora, meet Noct. 
> 
> This chapter came up fast. I am an update as i go kind of writer, and usually updates are a long time in between. The plot bunnies be vicious tho i guess.


	3. lux reserans

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just want to say thank you so freaking much for the support on this story!!!!!!!! every single one of y'all who've left a comment, you have brightened my day each and every time, and encouraged me to get this chapter out for ya!!

Once more Sora found himself awake with no idea of where he was. He found himself lying on a narrow bed with sheets made thin and soft from years of washing. The ceiling seemed far too low and when Sora looked out from the bed he could see why. There were two small bunks across a very narrow bit of floor. If he wanted to, Sora thought he could reach out and touch the occupant across from him. It took a moment to put a name to the sleeping face in the bed. Noct, his brain eventually supplied, this was Noct. Above him was Prompto, one arm dangling down into space as he threatened to roll off and onto the ground. Sora smiled at the two of them. It was almost worth a picture. His hand automatically went for the pocket that held the gummi phone. To Sora’s surprise, it was still there. The light of the screen was bright so close to his face in the dimness of the bunk when Sora turned it on and he had to squint against it until his eyes adjusted enough to switch it into camera mode. He quickly snapped his picture then went back to the home screen. All the same little boxes were still there. Jiminy had done a good job of keeping the gummi phone organized during their adventure. There were all the Lucky Emblems he had found, and all the Classic Kingdom games. There were several little boxes dedicated to all the information they had collected on their friends and enemies, and all Jiminy’s notes on what had happened on their travels.

But what Sora clicked on was the box for all the pictures. First up was the fun photo of Noct and Prompto he had just taken. Then there was a photo of Aqua, Terra, and Ventus all hugging and crying but with the biggest smiles on their faces. Then of Axel, Roxas, and their friend Xion. Sora was in that one too. He’d taken a selfie. Axel had an arm around Roxas and Xion and was grinning into the camera while the other two looked like they hadn’t been quite ready when Sora pressed the button.

The one before that was taken at Yen Sid’s tower. It had almost everyone in it; Aqua and Ventus, Axel and Kairi, Mickey and Donald and Goofy, and there, in the centre, were Sora and Riku. Everyone was smiling at the camera despite the nerves they had all felt about the upcoming battle. Looking at the picture Sora could almost feel the ghost of Riku’s arm on his waist and Kairi’s hand in his own like how they were posed in the picture.

Tears prickled at Sora’s eyes, and one or two made their escape. Riku and Kairi… Sora hoped they were together and safe. It had only really been three days by Sora’s reckoning since that photo at Yen Sid’s tower, but it felt longer. Or rather, he felt farther away from Riku and Kairi than he ever had before, even on his first big adventure. It was like their hearts were still connected, but only by the faintest of threads. Sora scrubbed at his eyes. Even if he missed Riku and Kairi with his whole heart it didn’t change the fact that he was here on this world without a way off of it.

As Sora tried to pull his thoughts back together he heard soft noises from another room in wherever he was. Maybe this was their ship? Or maybe their car was bigger on the inside. Sora didn’t have a lot of experience with cars. They all could have secret nap rooms for all he knew. Either way, Sora was definitely going to check it out.

He swung his legs over the bunk, managed not to hit his head on the bed above his, and stepped out onto a rather squishier floor than he expected.

“Aaah!” shrieked Sora.

“Gerroffme,” groaned Gladio under Sora’s weight.

Gladio made to sit up and push Sora off, which threw Sora off balance and sent him tumbling down on top of Gladio. Meanwhile Prompto had been awoken by Sora’s scream and jerked up in the bunk, effectively unbalancing him. And so Prompto joined the tangle of limbs on the floor.

“Oww!”

“Get! Off! Me!”

“I had no idea you were sleeping down there! I’m sorry.”

“Five more minutes,” mumbled Noctis as he rolled over in his bunk.

Sora hastily detangled himself from Gladio and Noctis and retreated out of the room. He could hear the grumbling from the others as he found himself in a small kitchen that was coming alive with the smell of breakfast. Ignis was standing over the stove, sleeves rolled up and stirring something in a pan. He looked over at Sora as he entered the room.

“I see you’ve done a good job of waking everyone. Breakfast will be ready shortly,” said Ignis without looking away from the stove. “How’s the head?”

Sora reached up and brushed his fingers through his hair. His head was fine. Why wouldn’t it be, he had just woken up, and it wasn’t like he had hit it on the bunk above. Sora puzzled over the question for a few seconds, before remembering the night before. There had been the monster, some strange heartless, and Noct and his friends had come rushing in to help him. Then he’d gone to block a hit to Noct and had left his center of gravity too high and been thrown off his feet. He must have hit his head then.

“Oh, I’m fine,” said Sora. He peered at what Ignis was making. Something with eggs and sausage and vegetables. The sausage was sautéing in the pan as ignis stirred it up, breaking it up into smaller chunks.

“Do you like omelets?” asked Ignis when he noticed Sora watching.

“I’ve never had one before. I have a friend, Little Chef, who was teaching me how to cook, but we never really made breakfast food. Aside from crepes,” said Sora. “Do you need any help?”

“If you would be so kind, the pepper and onion need to be diced,” said Ignis with a smile. “I had rather thought I wouldn’t be getting any help cooking on this whole adventure.”

Sora frowned. “Your friends won’t help you cook?”

“Noct doesn’t know his way around a kitchen, and Gladio thinks cup noodles are a delicacy. Prompto, well, he is just as likely to produce a nice meal as he is to burn down this caravan,” said Ignis as Sora got to work with the vegetables. “I don’t mind it though, I find cooking is a great way to calm one’s mind, and I enjoy seeing the others eat and like the food.”

Sora nodded. He could understand. There was something nice about sharing the meals he made with Donald and Goofy. It made for a moment of peace wherever they were.

They cooked in silence for a few minutes. The only sounds were the sizzling of the sausage meat and the rhythmic thunk of Sora’s knife against the chopping board. The others slowly filed out of the bedroom one at a time. Noct made a beeline for a small bathroom and seconds later there was the sound of water running through old pipes. Prompto and Gladio made their way outside. Sora could see them through the little window above the small counter where he sat cutting up the veggies. Gladio was reading and Prompto was fiddling with what Sora thought could be a camera, but it looked so different than his gummi phone and the camera that the Twilight Town crew had.

Soon enough Ignis was putting the finish touches on breakfast. He explained each step as he went to Sora. Within minutes all five of them were seated outside around the small plastic table. Sora dug in hungrily. This was, after all, the first real meal he had eaten in days. He practically inhaled his slice of omelet, much to the shock of the others around him.

“Wow, uh, don’t choke on it,” said Prompto. “You’d think you hadn’t seen food in days.”

“I haven’t,” said Sora, putting down his fork but not letting go. He was eyeing the peppers Noct was picking out of his omelet with determination.

Sora missed the look the four exchanged as he dove in to spear some peppers with is fork. He happily popped his stolen prize into his mouth before looking up at the sombre faces. He looked from face to face, puzzled.

“What?”

The four hesitated, before Prompto softly spoke up.

“What was it like inside the Crown City? During the attack I mean.”

Sora frowned down at his empty plate. “Chaotic, I guess. There was a really big monster thing in the middle of the city, it wrecked a lot of buildings. Then I met Nyx and he was fighting some guy in armour. When we left it was really quiet. Lots of the streets were too full of rubble or too broken to pass.”

“The Nifs are gonna pay,” growled out Gladio.

“Yeah. We’re going to get the Crystal back and kick their asses,” agreed Noct.

“Agreed. It is not a matter of if, but when,” added Ignis. “I am afraid I’ve rather lost my appetite this morning. Sora, would you mind? I’m not one for wasting food.”

Ignis pushed his plate towards Sora and watched as he dug in greedily. Across the table Gladio shot him a knowing look, but Ignis ignored it as he cracked open a can of ebony.

“I can help you find the Crystal you’re looking for,” said Sora around a mouthful of omelet. “Especially if more of those Heartless show up.”

“Heartless?” asked Noct.

“Yeah, the creature we all fought last night. We call them the Heartless. They’re attracted to strong hearts filled with light, like yours.”

“Listen, kid, I don’t know what kind of stories you’ve been telling yourself since the Crown City fell, but that was a daemon. You know, the ones that have been around for centuries, only out at night?” said Gladio sarcastically.

“Then why did it react like a Heartless to my keyblade?” asked Sora.

“Keyblade?” asked Noct.

Sora nodded and pushed his chair back with a rough sound across the pavement to give himself enough room to summon his keyblade. It was still farther out of reach than it should have been, just a little too far to be comfortable. All the same, it still materialized in his hand after a second of concentration. Its weight was solid and comforting in his hand as always.

There was a shout of surprise from the others. Prompto managed to hit his fork in just the right way to send it catapulting both itself and the rest of his omelet several feet. Noct, Ignis, and Gladio all jumped half to their feet in surprise.

“What the hell!”

“Whoa! Dude!”

Sora dismissed the keyblade quickly at the shouts. Maybe it had been a bad idea. Yet in none of the world’s he had visited had his summoning the keyblade ever really been an issue.

“How do you have access to the armiger?” asked Ignis as he straightened his glasses and regained his composure.

“It’s not the armiger, Specs. I didn’t feel it,” said Noctis.

Sora looked between them, confused.

“The what?” he asked.

“The armiger is where we store our weapons and other things using Noct’s magic,” explained Ignis. He reached out with one hand and pulled a dagger out of the air in a shimmer of blue light.

“Cool!” said Sora, eyes going wide as Ignis dismissed it back into the armiger.

“It is strange that you have this power as well. But we should be tidying up and heading out within the hour. Noct, why don’t you take Prompto and Sora and fill the car and purchase some supplies for the road. Gladio and I will handle the dishes.”

Noct and Prompto both gave Ignis a look, but Sora just figured they weren’t happy about the tasks they had been assigned. They passed their plates to Ignis and Gladio before heading off towards the sleek black car. Sora watched in fascination as Noct put a card into the machine and plugged a cable into the car. Whatever the car ran off, it definitely wasn’t happy faces. Sora wasn’t convinced that happy faces wouldn’t do any good though. After Noct was done doing whatever it was with the cable he and Sora joined Prompto inside the store. It was just as fascinating to Sora as it had been the day before. Moogles tended to ask you what you wanted, then produce it from seemingly nowhere once you coughed up the munny. It was fun to look at all of the things on the shelves. There were cans of food and a fridge with drinks inside. Sora could hear Donald’s voice echoing in his mind: this might be a good place to find some ingredients.

He poked curiously at a few of the boxes of snacks while Prompto and Noct bought what was needed with a small card. The munny Sora had in his pockets was worthless. He had tried to buy some food and something to drink after Nyx had dropped him off at Hamerhead, but had no luck getting the man behind the counter to exchange anything for the little gold pieces.

As they walked out of the store the trio found Ignis and Gladio already seated in the front of the car. Sora found no issue with squishing into the backseat with Prompto and Noct, but from the way the two of them stopped and the faces they made, Sora got the idea that neither of them liked this particular arrangement.

“Gladio, dude, you’re in my seat,” said Prompto with a laugh, like Gladio had simply forgotten where he usually sat.

“Since we have an extra passenger, some new arrangements had to be made,” replied Ignis. “It makes more sense for the three of you to sit in the back, as you are all smaller and will find it less cramped.”

“But,” started Noct.

“No buts. Get in, we’re losing daylight,” said Gladio, jerking his thumb towards the backseat.

With much grumbling from Noct and Prompto the three of them found their way into the backseat, and somehow Sora found himself in the middle. The car rumbled to life beneath them and Ignis began steering them down the road. It felt off, not being the one driving. Sora could count on one hand the number of times Donald or Goofy had driven the gummi ship since he joined them. It was nice, not having to drive. The car was louder than the gummi ship though, and definitely not as fast or well armoured. Then again, this wasn’t one of the paths between worlds. There weren’t very many Heartless either. Sora had only spotted the one the night before. The drive was peaceful. There were so many things to see, like all of the strange animals that wandered in the distance, or the small clusters of old buildings. The landscape itself was new to Sora as well. The dry, hot scrublands were so different from the islands, or anywhere else he had been before.

It didn’t take long for Sora’s eyes to become heavy. There was something soothing about the rumble of the car beneath him and the gentle movement of the road that made sleep so deliciously tempting. Between one thought and the next, Sora was out like a light.

The next thing he was aware of was being jostled by someone on his right. He groaned and tried to cuddle deeper into his pillow and will himself back to sleep.

“Aww, they look so cute like that. Pass me my camera.”

“Who knew there was someone else out there with the ability to nap like our Princess.”

Sora slowly opened his eyes to find himself looking into Prompto’s black camera. He, Ignis, and Gladio were all standing outside the car. Behind them Sora could see a cluster of buildings and people milling about. They had arrived.

Sora just wasn’t actually sure where they had arrived at.

In any case, he should probably get up and look around. He unpeeled himself from his pillow and stretched. Then his pillow grumbled. Sora looked down to find Noct still half asleep against his side.

“Oh, sorry!” said Sora as he detabgled himself from Noct and slid out of the car.

Noct didn’t do much more than mumble. Sora looked to the others and saw the amusement on their faces. Eventually, through much bribery and threats, Noct was once more among the land of the awake and the five of them made their way into the little settlement. The others led the way to a kind-looking woman who, to Sora’s great surprise, bowed to Noct. Before he had a chance to ask why, Gladio was asking questions. Sora didn’t really follow, but he understood more that whatever happened in the city he arrived in, lots of people died because of it. Eventually the woman, Monica, turned and looked at him.

“Who is this,” she asked.

“A survivor,” said Gladio. “From the city. Picked him up at Hammerhead.”

“I’m Sora!” added Sora pointing a thumb at himself.

Monica looked at Gladio. “Do you need me to escort him to Lestallum? I’m sure Lady Iris would be glad for the company. The Marshall is waiting for you all ahead if you’d like to get going.”

“That’s quite alright, thank you Monica. Sora will be travelling with us for a little while,” said Ignis. “As you said, the Marshal is waiting.”

Sora didn’t miss the odd look Monica gave him as Ignis began walking down a dirt trail away from the buildings. The four of them quickly said goodbye to Monica and hurried after him. After a short while they came across a chain link fence with a few old ‘Keep Out’ signs and a poster of an animal with plenty of warnings. Without even pausing their stride the others passed through the small gap in the fence and continued on.

“So who’s this Marshal we’re going to see?” asked Sora when the curiosity became too hard to ignore. “And why did Monica bow to Noct?”

The others all shared a glance.

“The Marshal is Cor the Immortal. He is the leader of the Lucian Crownsguard, and a confidant of King Regis. As for the other thing,” said Ignis before Noct cut him off with a wave of the hand.

“I’m Prince Noctis of Lucis.”

Gladio cleared his throat.

“…King of Lucis,” clarified Noctis, his voice sad. “The King, my father, died in the attack on Insomnia.”

With that Noctis sped up a little to get ahead, clearly upset with the conversation.

“Oh,” said Sora.

Prompto attempted a smile. “It’s been a rough few days.”

Thinking back on the last week of his life, Sora couldn’t agree more. He nodded at Prompto in understanding.

Everyone was in a low mood after that. Every step Sora took was accompanied by a whirlwind of thoughts on everything that had happened. Xehanort, Organization XIII, Kairi dying, then maybe dying himself. He had barely any time with his best friends before losing them again. Had he even had a break since the Destiny Islands were swallowed by darkness that one night?

He was so lost in thought he didn’t even notice the first shout from ahead.

The second grabbed his attention. Already the others were sprinting off towards the source, and looking ahead, Sora realized Noctis was out of sight. Calling his keyblade to his hand Sora dashed off as well.

He came upon the fight in seconds. There were several birdlike creatures zooming through the air, screeching and clawing at Noctis, who was avoiding the attacks by what Sora could only think of as teleporting out of the way. Sora watched for a moment. Noctis was so cool! He hoped Noctis could teach him that trick.

One of the screeching birds flew past Sora’s ear, close enough that Sora felt its claws graze his shoulder. He decided that perhaps asking Noctis about his cool teleportation trick could wait until after the bird things were taken care of. So Sora summoned his keyblade and charged in.

Flying things were never his favourite, but Sora managed to keep himself in the air with his hits as usual. He slid through the air from bird to bird, taking care not to launch himself right at Noctis or the others. He didn’t need to worry so much about Gladio, Ignis, and Prompto as their feet never seemed to leave the ground. He twisted and turned, dodging the sharp claws and landing hits with the keyblade. Eventually the last one fell as he smacked it towards the ground and Gladio quickly dispatched it. Sora returned to the ground once more, gently falling until his feet hit the dirt. A second later Noctis’ blade bit into the earth and Noctis himself reappeared in a glitter of blue magic with his hand wrapped around the hilt.

“Babababa ba na ba na na!” sang Prompto happily as they all dismissed their weapons.

“Excellent work everyone, the tomb should be just ahead,” said Ignis as he straightened his glasses. “But first, I believe we may have found our dinner.”

Sora gave Ignis a thumbs-up and a grin, though quickly looked away once Ignis retrieved a sharp looking knife and began the task of butchering the animals. He felt a little bad about killing the bird things. This wasn’t the first time he had used the keyblade to fight things other than Heartless or Nobodies, but it was definitely not something he liked doing. Unlike the Heartless, the bodies of the fallen animals didn’t just disappear. They lay there bloody and broken, a testament to the violence that had happened. Thankfully, he was distracted by Gladio walking up to stand beside him.

“Your form’s sloppy,” said Gladio.

“What do you mean?” said Sora, feeling a little put out. Sure, he hadn’t really had any fancy training with a real Master, but he had been doing the whole saving the world business for a long time.

“Your stance has tons of openings. If you were fighting a real threat, you would have been hit ten times over. Starting tomorrow you’re joining Noctis and Prompto in training.”

Noctis and Prompto groaned in unison.

“Really? Do I have to?” whined Sora.

“If you want to travel with us and help us find the Crystal, you have to do early morning training with the rest of us.”

“Aw man,” said Sora.

Gladio reached out and gently punched his arm. “It’ll be fun.”

“It won’t be,” said Noctis from a little ways away. “It’s never fun.”

“I swear half the time he just wants to weaken us for the monsters out there,” added Prompto.

“Hey, I’m just making sure we all stay alive,” grumbled Gladio. “I’m definitely going to remember all this bitching in the morning.”

Sora wasn’t sure what _bitching_ meant, but he knew that whatever Gladio had in mind for them was probably going to be up there with some of Phil’s training. It hardly seemed fair that Sora had to go through some sort of training every single time he started a new adventure, but he was used to the idea at this point.

“Right, I’m all finished up. Let’s make for the tomb,” said Ignis, standing and wiping his hands off with a bloody rag.

The tomb turned out to be a strange structure made of smooth white stone that was dug into the ground oddly. To Sora it didn’t scream ‘tomb’ but since the others kept going he guessed this was actually it. What a strange world.

At the bottom of a few smooth steps there was an iron door with a complicated looking lock. Luckily for them, the door was ajar. Noctis lead the way inside, shouldering open the stiff hinges. The inside of the tomb was cool and damp. In the centre of the room lay a stone box with a statue of a person carved atop it. The stone person had his hands clasped over a sharp looking sword.

But that wasn’t what got Sora’s attention. Nor was it the tall man with short hair and hard expression standing just on the other side of the statue. It was the feeling in this place. It felt light. Or rather, like there was light trapped here. Sora had been near enough worlds’ keyholes to know what one felt like, and this place felt like one.

“Wanna tell me what I’m here for?”

Noctis’ voice snapped Sora’s attention back.

“I will, but first, who is this?” asked the man. Sora guessed this was Cor the Immortal. Or the Marshal. He wasn’t clear on what was his proper name.

“I’m Sora!”

Cor ignored him in favour of looking to Ignis and Gladio, the question still in his eyes.

“A new ally,” answered Ignis. “He’s proven himself a capable fighter and has pledged to help us retrieve the Crystal.

“Very well then. I asked you to meet me here because of the power of kings, passed from one to another though the bonding of souls. One such soul lies before you. To claim your forebears’ power is your birthright and duty as king.”

“King of what?” snapped Noctis.

“A king is sworn to protect his people,” said Cor, his voice strong and hard.

“And yet he chose to protect only one prince,” shot back Noctis, his voice taunting.

Sora looked from one to the other, sensing darkness rising in the room. He had to do something.

“Guys, you don’t have to fight about it,” said Sora. All eyes snapped to Sora. He scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. “Look, I don’t know much about this power of kings stuff, but it’s only been a day and a bit since the city fell and everything. Maybe it can wait a little? And Noctis, wouldn’t your father have protected you because he loves you? He may have been a king, but I think family always comes first.”

All five of the others were staring at him with surprise written on their faces. Sora could feel the tension in the room dissipating as they regained their composure.

Cor sighed, one hand coming up to pinch the bridge of his nose before he looked over at Noctis. His face was softer now, and he looked far kinder for it.

“I know I sounded demanding, and the power of kings does demand your attention. But grieving and healing are two things that should happen as well. Niflheim won’t wait for you to heal, but you should take the time when you can at least,” said Cor. “Your father always had faith in you Noctis, that when the time came you would ascend for the sake of your people.”

There was a wet noise that came from Noctis, and when Sora turned to look he could see the tears in Noctis’ eyes.

“Guess he left me no choice,” said Noctis with a voice thick with emotion.

He reached out a hand over the statue and Sora watched with amazement as the sword lit up with blue-white magic. It extricated itself from the stone and hovered delicately in the centre of the room for a moment, bathing the stone walls in blue light. Then the blade pointed itself at Noctis and too quickly to stop it plunged into his chest. Sora froze. It was like watching Xehanort kill Kairi all over again. For a second Sora was back in the Keyblade Graveyard with Xehanort laughing down at them, feeling the hopelessness enter his heart. He pinched himself. Hard. The stone room came back into focus, and Noctis was still standing. The sword that Sora was sure had killed him spun around him lazily before disappearing into that space where they all kept their weapons.

Then Sora felt it again. The keyhole. He summoned his keyblade and with his typical flourish aimed it at the statue. A beam of light burst out of the end of the keyblade and Sora felt the keyhole unlock. Satisfied, he turned back to the others. Again, all of them were staring at him, and Cor had a hand on his own weapon.

“Ah, yes, there might be a few more things about Sora we need to discuss,” said Ignis.


	4. cor sepelite

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SO SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG!! 
> 
> I've had 80% of it done since september but the show i'm working on is crazy busy i barely get a day off a week. but since i've got a couple health issues keeping me down this weekend i found some time to lie in bed and write!!
> 
> I think about this fic constantly, and i thank you all for such a great response to my self indulgent crossover fic <3

A few things turned into an hour long conversation. After the first fifteen minutes Noctis drifted away and settled himself in a nice sunny spot and leaned back. Nearby Sora and Prompto were messing around and taking weird selfies. Sora was going on about some sort of symbol that was lucky to find. Or was it lucky to photograph. Noctis didn’t really catch which it was. He was only half paying attention to the chatter around him. There was so much to think about after all that had happened.

There was so much Noctis wanted to ask his dad.

Emotion bubbled up in his throat. There was so much left to say between the two of them. The two of them had been as close as a father and son could get with all the royal responsibilities getting in the way. When was the last time the two of them just simply spent some time together? Just Noctis and his dad, not as the King and the Prince? Try as he might Noctis couldn’t remember the last time he and his dad had been on one of their quiet fishing trips or even just a dinner together.

Noctis wasn’t ready to be king. He blinked up at the blue sky hanging above him and watched a small wisp of cloud drift by. It was silly, but the real reason he didn’t want to be king was that it felt like he was taking his father’s place and erasing him. Regis had been an amazing king, and Noctis didn’t want their people to forget him. If there were any Lucians left after everything was over.

He sighed and closed his eyes. The ground beneath him was hard and there were pebbles that dug into his back but Noctis found himself sinking into it like a feather bed. His eyes grew heavy and he began to drift off into a restless sleep.

Noctis stood in a small clearing. There was overgrown grass curling around the edges of his boots, tickling at his legs. Short, round trees lined the edges of the clearing. Beyond the trees there was nothing. It was like he was on a small piece of land floating through space. There were stars all around beyond the trees, and as Noctis took a curious look, he saw that the ground simply ended. A shooting star zipped past, disappearing underneath the small patch of earth and vanishing. He quickly backed away from the edge.

The only other thing besides himself on this small spit of land was a rather odd looking tower. It had none of the cold grace of Insomnian architecture. Instead it seemed to grow out of the ground in an almost organic way. Its twisting spires sprouted off of it at shocking angles, while the main tower itself was tilted and staggered, like a tree that had grown under the weight of snow.

There was also the difference in that where Insomnia tended towards greys and blacks, this tower was a warm, buttery yellow. With a blue roof. And lots of moons as accents. Noctis began to suspect he may be having a very strange dream.

Curious, he approached the entrance. Two large blue doors towered up above him. They opened at his touch and swung inwards to reveal a circular hall and a set of wide, spiralling stairs drifting upwards. Noctis wasn’t aware of starting up the stairs yet he found himself climbing upwards. Every time he blinked the stairs seemed to shift. First they were circling around the wall of the tower, then going straight up the centre, then gently winding back and forth. If he looked to the sides he could see doors in the curved wall, yet no stairs to them. Or maybe the tower just did not want him to see into those rooms.

After what felt like both hours and seconds Noctis finally saw an end to the stairs. A small green door stood waiting at the top. With some fresh energy he bounded up the last few steps and turned the handle.

Noctis stepped into a small circular room. There was a moon-shaped window across from him, and a few shelves with thick, leather bound tomes resting in a light coating of dust. His attention, however, was captured by the three people in the room. Sitting behind a sturdy desk was an old man in a blue robe and pointed hat. He had a long grey beard that did little to hide the frown on his face. In front of the desk were a boy and a girl. The boy looked about Noctis’ age, and had a similar fashion sense. His silvery hair was cut in almost the same style as well. Noctis felt a tinge of some strange feeling in his gut. It was close to anxiety, but with a sense of déjà vu. Or fear with a sense of peace. Like seeing something scary out of the corner of your eye and calmly accepting your fate, only to turn and find nothing there.

The feeling only got worse when he looked at the girl. She had dark red hair, and overall Noctis’ first impression was just pink. Lots of pink. But when he looked at her face he was startled to find that despite the red hair and blue eyes, the features of her face were eerily similar to Iris. The girl looked to be about the same age as Iris as well.

None of them noticed Noctis’ presence in the room. Instead they were in the middle of a heated argument. Noctis just watched and circled, taking in these strange people.

“Master Yen Sid, we are ready!” said the girl with a growl. “I’ve been training with Master Aqua for months, and Riku has been a Master for almost a year now.”

“The longer we wait, the harder it will be to find him. It took nearly thirteen years to find Master Aqua after she was lost to the Darkness,” added the boy.

The old man raised his hands. “Enough! I know you are eager to find Sora, but I cannot risk losing all three of you to the Darkness. Kairi, I know you have put all your efforts to training with Master Aqua, but until you have achieved the Mark of Mastery, I cannot allow you to jump so rashly into the Realm of Darkness.”

“But-”

“No. It is not even certain that Sora’s heart is in the Realm of Darkness. We need to face the possibility that saving you, Kairi, may have taken everything Sora’s heart could give.”

Tears welled at the edge of the girl, Kairi’s, eyes, but didn’t spill over. If anything her jaw took on a more stubborn set.

Noctis’ curiosity had spiked after hearing Sora’s name. He settled against a wall, eager to hear what they had to say about his newest companion.

“We know he’s out there somewhere. Master, you must have felt it too. His heart called out to us, I know it,” said the boy.

“Riku,” said Master Yen Sid, drawing out the vowels of his name. “Yes, I felt it too. But we must not let it spur us into rash action. We should wait, and plan. Perhaps Sora’s heart will grow stronger, and we can follow the connection we have to him. In the meantime, Kairi, you will report back to Master Aqua, and Riku, you will continue training with Lea, Roxas, and Xion.”

The girl looked like she was about to say something not so ladylike to the old man when her eyes found Noctis leaning on the wall. Noctis froze, blinking at her as she looked at him. Noctis watched as she opened her mouth to say something, eyes bright with anger, and then the tower around him dissolved away. For a moment Noctis was floating in the starry sky that lay beyond the edge of the tower’s bit of land. Then a hand on his shoulder shook him again and wrestled Noctis out of the last edges of sleep.

Noctis blinked up into the sunlight and the dark shadowy figure leaning over him. From the size and shape Noct knew it was Gladio.

“Up and at ‘em. We got another tomb to find,” said Gladio as he offered a hand and heaved Noctis to his feet.

The sun had moved further in the sky, threatening to sink below the stone ridge surrounding them before too long. Ignis and Cor were still standing together, looking troubled. Further away Prompto was going through photos on his camera with Sora hovering over his shoulder. Noctis frowned. His dream was just a dream, but what if it was real. That Sora was from some strange place where worlds existed as floating patches of land among the stars. And also considered dead. Or ‘lost to Darkness’. Whatever. Bottom line was Sora was not from Eos and that would explain all the strangeness about him, from the Keyblade and the armiger-like magic he used, to the easiness he seemed to have with the destruction of Insomnia.

Watching Sora’s easy interaction with Prompto and his bright smile made Noctis feel a little bit better with the prospect of having an alien walking around with them. Noctis shook his head to clear the sleep from his mind and stretched, feeling the familiar pull along his old scars.

“Where are we going?” asked Noctis through a yawn.

“Another tomb lies close by. I will go with you for the time being. Not only to help, but to get a measure of your strength,” said Cor with a glance to Ignis. Noctis looked between the two, and did not miss the looks the two of them sent towards Sora.

Guess Ignis and Cor also thought Sora’s strangeness was worth keeping an eye on. The two of them were likely to damn the kid for it though.

The six of them set off, following the rough path back down and turned left to cross the dusty field littered with old structures.

“What’re those?” Sora’s asked. Noctis turned to see him pointing one thin finger up at the sky. Following Sora’s gaze he saw several brick-shaped objects hovering in the sky. Dropships. Niff dropships. Noctis felt his stomach drop as he reached into the armiger for his engine blade.

“Niffs. MT’s probably,” said Noctis. “Get ready!”

A thrill of fear ran down Noct’s spine. Fear, and something else. Rage, or something like it. The Niffs had taken his father, his home. He had fought MT’s before, when they had tried to go back to the city, but that was only a day ago. With a snarl Noctis launched forward and charged ahead as the dropships opened their cargo doors and metallic soldiers dropped to the dusty earth.

The fight was over far too quickly. It was only a series of flashes to Noctis; his blade cracking the metal armour of an MT, Cor shouting something encouraging to Prompto, Sora dancing through the air overhead, the sting of a blade Noctis was too slow to dodge.

Then there was the quiet moment after the battle. Just Noctis and the sound of his own breathing before Gladio giving a heavy sigh:

“Glad that’s over.”

“Good work everyone. The tomb is just ahead,” said Cor.

Noctis took several deep breaths, trying to get his emotions under control as he started to follow. With each exhale he tried to let go of something. His rage, his sadness, his guilt. Just as he felt ready to move on a lone, still figure caught his eye. Sora was standing next to one of the MT’s, keyblade still in hand. He was staring down at it with his brows drawn and his mouth pulled into a frown. Noct couldn’t be sure, but he thought he saw sadness on his face, not the expected anger. Curious, Noctis wandered over to him.

For a moment as he approached Noctis was reminded of his dream and the girl and boy in it. Kairi and Riku. He tried to push it out if his mind as he stepped up beside Sora.

“Weird, aren’t they?” said Noctis. He inwardly grimaced at his choice of words. He was never good at being comforting.

Sora took a long moment to respond. “I’ve never struck down anyone who’s name I didn’t know.”

Noctis chose to ignore the strangeness of that statement and pushed it into a corner of his mind labelled ‘Things to Discuss with Ignis Later’. Instead he followed Sora’s eyes down to the MT. The helmet had cracked under the force of a blow, and through the small hole Noctis could see a patch of pale skin. The skin was cracked, and where that crack split the pasty skin it glowed faintly. A shiver ran down Noctis’ spine.

“Don’t worry about it. They’re machines. Magitek troopers. They’re not real people,” said Noctis. Whether he was trying to convince himself or Sora he wasn’t sure.

“Hey, you two are gonna get left behind!” came Gladio’s voice.

Both Noctis and Sora snapped up to attention. Noctis started in that direction, but felt Sora hesitate a moment longer before catching up and falling into step beside him. They joined the others outside a rather ominous looking cave entrance.

“Here’s where we go our separate ways,” began Cor. “This key unlocks the doors to the other tombs. Seek them out and claim the power they hold. You’ll need it.”

“What will you do?” asked Noctis. His heart sank hearing that Cor wouldn’t be staying with them. They would do well to have such a seasoned soldier with them. Gladio and Ignis were good, but Cor was on another level entirely.

“I’ll be keeping an eye on the Niffs. Find out what they’re up to. But you should focus on your own task.”

Noctis frowned at the way Cor’s eyes flickered to Ignis and Gladio as he said that last part. He knew what he had to do.

“Take care, Noctis,” added Cor as he turned to go.

“You too,” replied Noctis.

The five of them watched Cor disappear around some rocks before facing the caverns in front of them. The darkness ahead did not look friendly. Noctis was suddenly glad for the bright clip on lights Ignis insisted they have on them at all times. He fixed his onto his shirt and watched as the others did the same. Aside from Sora, who did not look all that phased at the prospect of walking into a creepy dark tunnel. Whatever. There’d be light enough for all of them, they’d just have to try and keep Sora in the middle of the group.

The tunnel turned out to lead into an old shelter. There were still cables through the caverns and old hallways, and plenty of rusted doors that screeched ominously as they passed through. At one point Gladio accidentally kicked a can and scared shrieks out of both Prompto and Sora. The worst part was feeling like their were eyes on them. Frankly, when the daemons popped out and began attacking it was almost a relief. Noctis wasn’t usually one to believe in ghost stories, but before the daemons decided to show themselves it was all he could do not to think about every scary story he and Prompto had ever shared at a sleepover.

Eventually they came upon more stone tunnels and then the finely carved doors to the tomb. Again, Noctis held his hand out and watched as his ancestor’s weapon rose into the air before plunging into his chest. Again a wave of ice passed over him as the weapon passed through him. It was uncomfortable, but he felt more… whole. Noctis barely had time to register the new weapon in his armiger before Sora once again pulled out his keyblade and did that weird flourish before shooting a beam of light at the tomb of his ancestor. He’d have to ask about that at some point.

The walk back to the surface was long and would have been dull if not for the same creeping anxiety as they passed through the old abandoned halls. No more daemons jumped out at them though, so Noctis counted that as a win.

It wasn’t immediately clear when they reached the surface as night had fallen and the sky was as pitch dark as the tunnels they had been walking through. It was only the breeze and the fresh air that gave it away. The group all collectively breathed a sigh of relief at the wind that kissed their faces and rustled through their hair.

Then Noctis’ pants vibrated and he nearly jumped out of his skin even as his hand automatically dived for his phone.

“Yeah?” said Noctis as he brought the receiver to his ear.

“Good. For a moment I thought I had lost another king,” came Cor’s voice on the other end.

“Just busy building my arsenal,” said Noctis.

“Good to hear. I have a task for you. The empire’s begun construction of a new base, along the road west to Duscae. I need you to put it out of commission. Monica can give you the details. Go see her.”

“We will,” replied Noctis.

“Good. One more thing. Your new friend, Sora. I don’t believe he is from Insomnia. Neither does Ignis. He’s a good addition to your team, but keep a close eye on him. Could be a Niff plot.”

Noctis frowned. So far Sora seemed trustworthy enough. He grunted an answer into the phone before hanging up.

“What’s up?” asked Prompto, stepping close to Noctis.

“Oh, you know, people to see, bases to burn,” said Noctis. “We should get back to the outpost before more daemons show up.”

“Agreed,” said Ignis.

Noctis fell into step beside Sora and Prompto as the group walked back to the outpost. The two were joking and smiling at each other, but Noctis noticed that Sora kept glancing up at the sky when Prompto wasn’t looking at him. Noctis followed his gaze, and found that the stars looked farther away than usual, like the sky had stretched further from the ground, or the blackness had simply swallowed up whatever light the stars gave off. Either way it was unsettling. He tore his gaze away from the sky to look back at Sora. Thoughts whirled in his head, but he kept coming back to what Cor said about Sora not being from Insomnia, and his strange dream about the tower floating in space and the people looking for Sora. A conclusion was starting to form in Noctis’ mind, but it sounded crazy. More than crazy. After all, besides the astrals, who would come to Eos.


End file.
